Ellie Grace Feisal entered this world March 16, 2010 at 5:13 pm weighing 5lbs 7oz and measuring 18 inches long. Of course in her Mommy and Daddy's eyes she is absolutely perfect. Below is her story.
As I posted previously on Tuesday March 9 I had a doctors appointment and learned that I was already dilating. My doctor was not overly concerned but she wanted me to watch for any cramping, pressure, contractions, etc. If any of these things happened I had strict instructions on what to do immediately and if they didn't subside I was to head to labor and delivery.
On Wednesday March 10/Thursday March 11 I started having some pain. It was late evening and the cramping was back and worse than ever. I wouldn't say I was having time able contractions but I was having pretty severe cramping and back pain. I followed all my doctors orders and nothing would subside so I called Labor and Delivery after reviewing my file and doctors notes they told me to come immediately. We get here and get hooked up to the monitor and miss priss is just kicking away and doing exactly what she was supposed to. She did have a couple of heart rate drops so to be on the safe side the nurse ordered a biophysical profile and sent us down to get an ultrasound. We had the ultrasound and came back to wait on the report. The report was perfect our sweet girl scored an 8 out of an 8 so we were getting discharged. The monitor picked up VERY VERY slight contractions that were not regular at all!! They felt the cramping and pain was mainly due to her position.
We made it through the rest of the week and weekend without any problems and spent some time preparing Ellie's nursery.
Sunday March 14 I was having what I would call really severe pelvic pressure. I've had lots of pressure come and go throughout my pregnancy and I've been told pressure is SOMEWHAT normal and I would probably have more due to her breech position. My pressure typically subsides with rest so that's what I did! Monday morning the pressure hurt worse than ever. I headed into work with plans to call my doctors office as soon as they opened....I REALLY REALLY wanted to avoid a trip to Labor and Delivery. I knew Monday was my doctors surgery day but I planned to talk to the nurse.....little did I know my doctor was on vacation but I would obviously learn that later. The nurse of course sent me immediately to Labor and Delivery to be monitored. I was not pleased but knew that I needed to do what was best for Ellie and myself. We got to Labor and Delivery, heartbeat was strong, contractions were MINIMAL and very irregular, I still wasn't dilated past a one but she was really positioned deep in my pelvis so they once again thought that was the problem. They ordered another biophysical profile just to make sure there were no major changes from a few days before. The Sonographer stated everything looked good to her but she would send the final report to the nurses so they could determine the next step. She stated that my fluid looked lower than before but fluid was so subjective and good be anything. I knew from the previous biophysical profile my fluid was just over 11. The nurse came in about 20 minutes later and said A+ she scored an 8 out of an 8 I let the doctors office know that and they said to release you. I was thrilled with this news and knew that I could deal through the pain I was having and headed back to work!!!
Tuesday morning March 16 is when everything went crazy!!! I got a phone call from my doctors partner. She introduced herself and stated my doctor was out of town. Panic was already setting in because I didn't know why she would even be calling me. She let me know that she was very upset with the nurses and herself for accepting a verbal report of the biophysical profile from Monday. THANKFULLY my nurse at the doctors office reported it to her first thing that morning when it had came in....that was definitely God looking out for us! The doctor said had she gotten the report on Monday I would had never left the hospital and would have already had a baby. My amniotic fluid level was down to 3.24. They did not know the reason for the drop as I had been checked and I was NOT leaking amniotic fluid. Due to a number of reasons she felt that it was better at this point and time to have an outside baby immediately instead of an inside baby. My world was changed from that point forward. I was told to stop eating and drinking, get squared away at work, get my bags and get to the hospital quickly.
From that point on things were a whirlwind even after arriving at the hospital. Finally at around 4 pm they started the admission process and got me hooked up to the monitors. The nurse immediately asked me if I was ok and what I was feeling because it turns out I was having VERY regular and VERY strong contractions. I didn't feel any different then I had the past week when I was having pain. Around this time Ellie's heart rate begin to drop. They rushed a team of nurses in so they could complete my paperwork, insert a catheter, get my blood to the lab and begin my iv. Everything was moving so quickly I could feel myself starting to panic and could tell it was getting to Steven as well who is normally calm and collective. By 4:50 pm they were wheeling me to the OR and by 5:13 pm we had our sweet angel in this world.
If you read below you can see how our world changed from that point forward. We had discussed with the doctor what could happen with Ellie arriving early but we agreed with the doctor that those complications were worth the risk rather than keeping her in utero.
I am taking things one minute at a time. That's all I can do at this point. I know we are so very blessed and we could have had a very different outcome and even though we are looking at a long road ALL of the doctors are confident and I trust that we are in good hands! I struggle with blaming myself and my body that I couldn't keep our sweet angel where she needed to be for at least a few more weeks but I know that I was taking care of myself and doing all that I could but God had other plans!
I know all of these posts are lengthy but we really wanted somewhere to document everything, share our thoughts and ask for prayers for those willing to pray!'
We love you all and our so appreciative of the love and support we have received over the past few days.
Friday, March 19, 2010
She's here......
I am working on a post as to what happened and why it all happened so quickly. In the meantime I will post some emails from her proud daddy letting everyone know what is going on.....forewarning these may be lengthy updates.
Subject: It's official...I'M A DADDY
Well, she couldn’t wait any longer to grace us with her presence. Mom and baby Ellie are doing great. Jamie is resting comfortably (who wouldn’t be on morphine)
Elliot (“Ellie”) Grace Feisal arrived earlier this evening at 5:13PM weighing in at 5lbs 7oz and “standing” 18 inches tall (long); pretty darn good for being 35 weeks and 1 day, not the typical 37-40 weeks. Her Momma sure did a good job, she’s BEAUTIFUL. And I don’t say that lightly; I’m not really a fan of newborns as a rule. Am I biased? DAMN RIGHT! But, she really is pretty!
She’s got quite a lot of fuzzy BLOND BLOND BLOND hair; I mean toe head blond (as did both Jamie and I until we were both about 7 years old). Not tons on top, but about a half inch or so just about all over. She’s got a pretty, clear complexion. The only “blemish” is either a bruise or a birthmark on her right side just in the crease of her hip/pelvis; let’s put it this way, it’ll be the “date quiz” when she’s old enough and comes home…I’ll simply ask the lad if he found her birthmark, he says yes…it’s trouble!
I would attach some pictures here, but somehow (hello frantic!) left the data cable for the camera at home. Hopefully I can get one up here tomorrow.
We’ll be going home late Thursday or sometime Friday.
Now begin the updates on our little angels health/situation. Not that I expect anyone to read through all these updates but we are directing family and friends here for further updates and I would like to have everything in one place. However, if you feel compelled to read and add us to your prayer list they are greatly appreciated!!!!!
Subject: Baby Ellie News
Rather than send the mass email, thought I would send this group an fairly comprehensive and chronological update. No need to share all the details with the whole free world, or so says Momma.
All was well post-delivery, Ellie was checking out a-ok including her little initial suck/swallow/breathe test to see how she would do with a bottle. As we began giving her a bath ~7:00pm, her color began to fade very slowly. It became more pronounced once the nurse picked her up and placed her chest down in the palm of her hand to wash her back. This continued to the point that she (Ellie) was getting lethargic and cyanotic when washing her hair.
As soon as the bath was over, we put her on Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (known as CPAP to those of the snoring and sleep apnea persuasion). Did this for 15 minutes with an oxygen “enrichment” of 35% (so 14% over air). After 15 minutes of back to breathing on her own, her oxygen levels weren’t staying above 90 without the CPAP assistance, so she was taken to NICU. Jamie got to spend maybe a total of 7 minutes with Ellie on the day of her birth (5 in the OR with me holding her where Jamie’s hand could reach her and 2 seeing her in Jamie’s room on the way to NICU.
Ellie did fantastic over the course of the first night being weaned off oxygen-CPAP at 4:30 and off CPAP altogether by 7:30am on 03/17/2010. All was looking way, way up…to the point I started thinking there was an outside chance she’d go home with us on Friday. It wasn’t to be; and that’s ok.
By 11:30, she was back on CPAP and 30% O2 as her oxygen level just wouldn’t stay up and she began working harder and harder to breathe. By 6:00pm yesterday, they had bumped here CPAP O2 level to 45% and it slowly crawled it’s way to 100% by sometime after 7:00pm. That said, we did get the good news that her kidneys were properly functioning (not a concern of mine but a common issue for premise). Around 3:30, Jamie got to hold her for a little bit while they changed bedding prior to performing an EKG to check her heart murmur.
Over the 7:00 hour, they were doing more blood gas tests and messing with Ellie quite a lot, so we let her rest and recuperate. We also found out sometime in the late afternoon that she has a small heart murmur, which is very common; she has both a PDA and PFA murmur, both of which are normal and fix themselves with time and/or antibiotics (rarely require surgery). This, especially the PDA, contributes to her low oxygen level in her blood as the duct has not completely shut and that allow blood to bypass re-oxygenation in the lungs. That will heal with time.
I called NICU to check on her around 9:00, hoping to get good news and go spend some time with her. It wasn’t good news, but it wasn’t terrible.
It was during this call we learned that Ellie’s CPAP O2 had been increased to 100% and that she was really laboring pretty hard to breathe. At that time, Dr. Cho decided Ellie needed more help than CPAP was providing; all the hard work was making her TIRED and making her work harder to breath. As such, they intubated her and began giving her surfactant, the liquid that keep the little lung sacks expanded when we exhale. Herr’s were collapsing all the way down making her have to really breath hard to get them opened for air. With the intubation, they backed her O2 “enrichment” down to 50% and down to 40% (at 9:15).
They also ordered a 3rd round of chest x-rays; the x-ray revealed that my little angel’s right lung had collapsed due to a leaking lung. We found this out at about 11:00pm. Dr. Cho initially thought that she would need a chest tube but was able to withdraw 43cc of air from her chest cavity and by 11:30, her lung had already begun to rein late. Between 11:30, when I kissed her goodnight, and 1:00 (when I called to check on her) they backed her O2 down to 35% where it remains. She slept GREAT throughout the night (compliments of the sedation) which is exactly what she needed and was supposed to do.
So…all is well; but it will be a bit of a process. The law of averages says that she will be home before her due date of Apr 19, but I think/hope/pray before then. She’s a tough and feisty little thing. Send an extra prayer for her if you would!
Sorry for the Homeric email; but I had to fit in 40+ hours of updates for y’all!
Subject:Baby Ellie news #2
for some, an update; for others a massive run of updates. working from my air card so pics will have to follow as soon as I can get to a better internet connection to upload them to an email.
after the chest tube, they bumped Ellie's O2 level up to 50% and increased the vent from 50 to 60 (which means the machine was doing more breathing for her).
Bless her pretty little heart, she looks like a cyborg or something. wires running all over the place, tubes all over...it's almost unfathomable to think that she's actually doing much better than she was, despite the steps backward.
I spent 20 minutes with her from 1:50 to 2:10-ish, when they kicked me out to do a blood gas test. I'll head back in shortly. While I was in there, they moved her O2 down from 40% (it was moved down from 50% between 11 and 1:45) to 35% and ultimately 32% just before i left.
I had my hand on her and was doing some praying; if you don't believe in God or the power of prayer, my event (if you had experienced this one event) would unequivocally change your mind. As my hand is on her and I'm praying, just when I'm getting REALLY choked up, tears squeezing their way out of my closed eyes trying like mad to drip down my bowed face...she brought her little foot over and touched my hand (I almost can't type this; and you guys know I can talk/type). Jamie had a real emotional afternoon and when I was praying for Jamie, Ellie touched my hand again with her foot. God calming me down using little sedated Ellie.
Another of the most special of moments, she was just waking up from sedation following the insertion of her chest tube. She got just one blinky blue eye open and I leaned in. Just then I leaned in just a bit and, I know physiologically she can't focus, but she took a good long look at me and relaxed back into sleep when I said "Daddy loves you!" She's doing REALLY good...all things considered.
All this sounds terrible, but it's all expected and moving in an ok direction. To date, she's maintaining weight, color (no jaundice), heart is good (despite the murmur), liver and kidneys all working fine.
Subject:Baby Ellie news #3
Ellie’s oxygen on the intubation has been weaned all the way down 25%!!!! PRAISE JESUS!!! Moving in the right direction! Also, moved the breaths per minute from 60 down to 50, so she is DEFINITELY getting STRONGER!!!
Praise be to God!
Subject:Baby Ellie news #4
Quick update on Miss Ellie.Vent is down to assisting on only 40 breaths per minute (was 60 early today and 50 earlier this evening). She's doing the other 20-30 breaths per minute all on her own and a yowman's work on the 40 assisted. Also, her O2 level has been bumped all the way down to 26%. So praise report all the way around; thanks be to God!!!Her lung is staying good and inflated so the chest tube may come out sometime late friday or over the weekend if things stay good!I'm off to tuck her in!
Like I stated I am sorry all these updates our jumbled into one post. I will work on a 'birth story' post here shortly! I will also try to post some pictures of our precious angel. Let's just say it's been a long few days. I know that things could be MUCH worse and that we are VERY VERY VERY blessed that things are going as they are but it's still been a rough few days! The nurses keep reminding me I HAVE to take care of myself and I am definitely trying. Last night I did get a solid 3 1/2 hours of sleep which I know isn't much and isn't good for me but at this point i'll take what I can. Rumor has it we will be discharged later today but I don't expect to see the doctor until around lunch time. It will be very hard to go home without our sweet baby...I know I can look over in the corner at the 8 vases of flowers and plants and the growing stack of gifts in the hospital room and know that we are all loved and being prayed for constantly!
Subject: It's official...I'M A DADDY
Well, she couldn’t wait any longer to grace us with her presence. Mom and baby Ellie are doing great. Jamie is resting comfortably (who wouldn’t be on morphine)
Elliot (“Ellie”) Grace Feisal arrived earlier this evening at 5:13PM weighing in at 5lbs 7oz and “standing” 18 inches tall (long); pretty darn good for being 35 weeks and 1 day, not the typical 37-40 weeks. Her Momma sure did a good job, she’s BEAUTIFUL. And I don’t say that lightly; I’m not really a fan of newborns as a rule. Am I biased? DAMN RIGHT! But, she really is pretty!
She’s got quite a lot of fuzzy BLOND BLOND BLOND hair; I mean toe head blond (as did both Jamie and I until we were both about 7 years old). Not tons on top, but about a half inch or so just about all over. She’s got a pretty, clear complexion. The only “blemish” is either a bruise or a birthmark on her right side just in the crease of her hip/pelvis; let’s put it this way, it’ll be the “date quiz” when she’s old enough and comes home…I’ll simply ask the lad if he found her birthmark, he says yes…it’s trouble!
I would attach some pictures here, but somehow (hello frantic!) left the data cable for the camera at home. Hopefully I can get one up here tomorrow.
We’ll be going home late Thursday or sometime Friday.
Now begin the updates on our little angels health/situation. Not that I expect anyone to read through all these updates but we are directing family and friends here for further updates and I would like to have everything in one place. However, if you feel compelled to read and add us to your prayer list they are greatly appreciated!!!!!
Subject: Baby Ellie News
Rather than send the mass email, thought I would send this group an fairly comprehensive and chronological update. No need to share all the details with the whole free world, or so says Momma.
All was well post-delivery, Ellie was checking out a-ok including her little initial suck/swallow/breathe test to see how she would do with a bottle. As we began giving her a bath ~7:00pm, her color began to fade very slowly. It became more pronounced once the nurse picked her up and placed her chest down in the palm of her hand to wash her back. This continued to the point that she (Ellie) was getting lethargic and cyanotic when washing her hair.
As soon as the bath was over, we put her on Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (known as CPAP to those of the snoring and sleep apnea persuasion). Did this for 15 minutes with an oxygen “enrichment” of 35% (so 14% over air). After 15 minutes of back to breathing on her own, her oxygen levels weren’t staying above 90 without the CPAP assistance, so she was taken to NICU. Jamie got to spend maybe a total of 7 minutes with Ellie on the day of her birth (5 in the OR with me holding her where Jamie’s hand could reach her and 2 seeing her in Jamie’s room on the way to NICU.
Ellie did fantastic over the course of the first night being weaned off oxygen-CPAP at 4:30 and off CPAP altogether by 7:30am on 03/17/2010. All was looking way, way up…to the point I started thinking there was an outside chance she’d go home with us on Friday. It wasn’t to be; and that’s ok.
By 11:30, she was back on CPAP and 30% O2 as her oxygen level just wouldn’t stay up and she began working harder and harder to breathe. By 6:00pm yesterday, they had bumped here CPAP O2 level to 45% and it slowly crawled it’s way to 100% by sometime after 7:00pm. That said, we did get the good news that her kidneys were properly functioning (not a concern of mine but a common issue for premise). Around 3:30, Jamie got to hold her for a little bit while they changed bedding prior to performing an EKG to check her heart murmur.
Over the 7:00 hour, they were doing more blood gas tests and messing with Ellie quite a lot, so we let her rest and recuperate. We also found out sometime in the late afternoon that she has a small heart murmur, which is very common; she has both a PDA and PFA murmur, both of which are normal and fix themselves with time and/or antibiotics (rarely require surgery). This, especially the PDA, contributes to her low oxygen level in her blood as the duct has not completely shut and that allow blood to bypass re-oxygenation in the lungs. That will heal with time.
I called NICU to check on her around 9:00, hoping to get good news and go spend some time with her. It wasn’t good news, but it wasn’t terrible.
It was during this call we learned that Ellie’s CPAP O2 had been increased to 100% and that she was really laboring pretty hard to breathe. At that time, Dr. Cho decided Ellie needed more help than CPAP was providing; all the hard work was making her TIRED and making her work harder to breath. As such, they intubated her and began giving her surfactant, the liquid that keep the little lung sacks expanded when we exhale. Herr’s were collapsing all the way down making her have to really breath hard to get them opened for air. With the intubation, they backed her O2 “enrichment” down to 50% and down to 40% (at 9:15).
They also ordered a 3rd round of chest x-rays; the x-ray revealed that my little angel’s right lung had collapsed due to a leaking lung. We found this out at about 11:00pm. Dr. Cho initially thought that she would need a chest tube but was able to withdraw 43cc of air from her chest cavity and by 11:30, her lung had already begun to rein late. Between 11:30, when I kissed her goodnight, and 1:00 (when I called to check on her) they backed her O2 down to 35% where it remains. She slept GREAT throughout the night (compliments of the sedation) which is exactly what she needed and was supposed to do.
So…all is well; but it will be a bit of a process. The law of averages says that she will be home before her due date of Apr 19, but I think/hope/pray before then. She’s a tough and feisty little thing. Send an extra prayer for her if you would!
Sorry for the Homeric email; but I had to fit in 40+ hours of updates for y’all!
Subject:Baby Ellie news #2
for some, an update; for others a massive run of updates. working from my air card so pics will have to follow as soon as I can get to a better internet connection to upload them to an email.
after the chest tube, they bumped Ellie's O2 level up to 50% and increased the vent from 50 to 60 (which means the machine was doing more breathing for her).
Bless her pretty little heart, she looks like a cyborg or something. wires running all over the place, tubes all over...it's almost unfathomable to think that she's actually doing much better than she was, despite the steps backward.
I spent 20 minutes with her from 1:50 to 2:10-ish, when they kicked me out to do a blood gas test. I'll head back in shortly. While I was in there, they moved her O2 down from 40% (it was moved down from 50% between 11 and 1:45) to 35% and ultimately 32% just before i left.
I had my hand on her and was doing some praying; if you don't believe in God or the power of prayer, my event (if you had experienced this one event) would unequivocally change your mind. As my hand is on her and I'm praying, just when I'm getting REALLY choked up, tears squeezing their way out of my closed eyes trying like mad to drip down my bowed face...she brought her little foot over and touched my hand (I almost can't type this; and you guys know I can talk/type). Jamie had a real emotional afternoon and when I was praying for Jamie, Ellie touched my hand again with her foot. God calming me down using little sedated Ellie.
Another of the most special of moments, she was just waking up from sedation following the insertion of her chest tube. She got just one blinky blue eye open and I leaned in. Just then I leaned in just a bit and, I know physiologically she can't focus, but she took a good long look at me and relaxed back into sleep when I said "Daddy loves you!" She's doing REALLY good...all things considered.
All this sounds terrible, but it's all expected and moving in an ok direction. To date, she's maintaining weight, color (no jaundice), heart is good (despite the murmur), liver and kidneys all working fine.
Subject:Baby Ellie news #3
Ellie’s oxygen on the intubation has been weaned all the way down 25%!!!! PRAISE JESUS!!! Moving in the right direction! Also, moved the breaths per minute from 60 down to 50, so she is DEFINITELY getting STRONGER!!!
Praise be to God!
Subject:Baby Ellie news #4
Quick update on Miss Ellie.Vent is down to assisting on only 40 breaths per minute (was 60 early today and 50 earlier this evening). She's doing the other 20-30 breaths per minute all on her own and a yowman's work on the 40 assisted. Also, her O2 level has been bumped all the way down to 26%. So praise report all the way around; thanks be to God!!!Her lung is staying good and inflated so the chest tube may come out sometime late friday or over the weekend if things stay good!I'm off to tuck her in!
Like I stated I am sorry all these updates our jumbled into one post. I will work on a 'birth story' post here shortly! I will also try to post some pictures of our precious angel. Let's just say it's been a long few days. I know that things could be MUCH worse and that we are VERY VERY VERY blessed that things are going as they are but it's still been a rough few days! The nurses keep reminding me I HAVE to take care of myself and I am definitely trying. Last night I did get a solid 3 1/2 hours of sleep which I know isn't much and isn't good for me but at this point i'll take what I can. Rumor has it we will be discharged later today but I don't expect to see the doctor until around lunch time. It will be very hard to go home without our sweet baby...I know I can look over in the corner at the 8 vases of flowers and plants and the growing stack of gifts in the hospital room and know that we are all loved and being prayed for constantly!
Friday, March 12, 2010
4 weeks.......
4 weeks from today if things stay the way they are currently headed we will be holding our sweet bundle of joy! HOLY COW!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Baby Things
Sweet little wall letters! We had these painted to match her bedding. They are now hung on the wall so I will try to get a better picture soon!
I couldn't resist this swimsuit!Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Still no pictures......
I haven't unloaded any pics. After all the belly pictures and my shower this weekend I am scared to unload the pictures and see how many are still on my camera.
On another note I did have a doctors appointment. It was pretty eventful to say the least. On Sunday night I had some pretty bad cramping but I thought I was just starting to get dehydrated. Once I finally got some sleep I felt pretty good when I woke up. Last night I had the same cramping but it was much more dull. So I mentioned it to the doctor today. She agreed that everything I described sounded like dehydration but she wanted to do an internal exam just to be sure. WARNING....maybe TMI ahead for some my cervix is still long so it is not thinning out however I am dilated to a 1. She is not overly concerned because as we all know dilation isn't a sure sign of anything. However, the cramping coming 2 nights in a row concerns her somewhat. So I left the doctor with strict instructions on what to do if the cramping returns....even if I don't think it's anything! She is letting me continue work at this time and we will just see where things go. Our sweet little girl is still breech. We will still have an ultrasound on March 23 to see if she has flipped. If she does not flip I will have a scheduled c-section on April 12 which will be 39 weeks. However, if my body decides to go into labor prior to 39 weeks and after 37 weeks she will do a c-section. The goal is to keep her put for the next 3 weeks then after that the goal is April 12.
I am trying to take it easy but learning that she could come as early as 3 weeks away has put my brain into overload mode of what needs to be done!!!!
Steven is out of town which the doctor was not happy to hear. In his defense after Sunday nights episode he tried to stay home and I assured him I was fine to just go to DC. He will be home late tonight and she said unless he wants to miss something she suggest he stays put.
On another note I did have a doctors appointment. It was pretty eventful to say the least. On Sunday night I had some pretty bad cramping but I thought I was just starting to get dehydrated. Once I finally got some sleep I felt pretty good when I woke up. Last night I had the same cramping but it was much more dull. So I mentioned it to the doctor today. She agreed that everything I described sounded like dehydration but she wanted to do an internal exam just to be sure. WARNING....maybe TMI ahead for some my cervix is still long so it is not thinning out however I am dilated to a 1. She is not overly concerned because as we all know dilation isn't a sure sign of anything. However, the cramping coming 2 nights in a row concerns her somewhat. So I left the doctor with strict instructions on what to do if the cramping returns....even if I don't think it's anything! She is letting me continue work at this time and we will just see where things go. Our sweet little girl is still breech. We will still have an ultrasound on March 23 to see if she has flipped. If she does not flip I will have a scheduled c-section on April 12 which will be 39 weeks. However, if my body decides to go into labor prior to 39 weeks and after 37 weeks she will do a c-section. The goal is to keep her put for the next 3 weeks then after that the goal is April 12.
I am trying to take it easy but learning that she could come as early as 3 weeks away has put my brain into overload mode of what needs to be done!!!!
Steven is out of town which the doctor was not happy to hear. In his defense after Sunday nights episode he tried to stay home and I assured him I was fine to just go to DC. He will be home late tonight and she said unless he wants to miss something she suggest he stays put.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Update
The doctors appointment went well!! I didn't get to see that + on my chart but I have gained back everything I lost in the first trimester so starting in 2 weeks I will start seeing that + sign next to the number I've gained for that visit. This may seem so silly but I have had SO many people give me a hard time and question my weight gain throughout this pregnancy I am excited to finally see that. However, my doctor assures me she isn't concerned with my progress as everything is right on track.
She does feel the baby is still in the breech position. I feel this as well due to where I am feeling most of her movements. We will still have the ultrasound in 2 weeks to determine exactly whether she is or not. We discussed what would happen should she not turn. There are a few different scenarios and we discussed the pros and cons of each. As of right now we will see what happens. I am completely at peace with everything we discussed and I 100% trust my doctor and know she will do what is best for me and the baby!
Based off the last ultrasound she feels that we are looking at around a 7lb baby maybe a little smaller or bigger. She said she can't really see my body handling much more than a 7 1/2 lb baby but she isn't worried because she doesn't anticipate our little one getting that big.
Our house is slowly starting to fill up with baby things and we are slowly getting them organized. Hopefully Steven gets good news at the doctor today and he will start painting the nursery this weekend!!
We are also CLOSER to having a name for our sweet little angel. Once we have a final decision I will definitely share with everyone!
Another boring post with no pictures! I promise I will post something exciting soon!
She does feel the baby is still in the breech position. I feel this as well due to where I am feeling most of her movements. We will still have the ultrasound in 2 weeks to determine exactly whether she is or not. We discussed what would happen should she not turn. There are a few different scenarios and we discussed the pros and cons of each. As of right now we will see what happens. I am completely at peace with everything we discussed and I 100% trust my doctor and know she will do what is best for me and the baby!
Based off the last ultrasound she feels that we are looking at around a 7lb baby maybe a little smaller or bigger. She said she can't really see my body handling much more than a 7 1/2 lb baby but she isn't worried because she doesn't anticipate our little one getting that big.
Our house is slowly starting to fill up with baby things and we are slowly getting them organized. Hopefully Steven gets good news at the doctor today and he will start painting the nursery this weekend!!
We are also CLOSER to having a name for our sweet little angel. Once we have a final decision I will definitely share with everyone!
Another boring post with no pictures! I promise I will post something exciting soon!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Bad Blogger
I've been terrible at posting and I really don't have any good excuses. I had a fun food post planned but my camera died in the middle of the cooking process. I was too stubborn to just go get the point and shoot camera out of the closet to continue taking pictures so what's a food post without pictures....BORING!!
On the baby front I really can't believe I only have 10 weeks (give or take) of pregnancy left!!! Holy cow where has time gone!!!!! I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon. I am guessing by the way I've been STARVING last week that I will finally jump ahead of my pre-pregnancy weight and get a positive weight gain on my charts! For those that don't know I lost quite a bit of weight during the first trimester due to morning sickness. Then I went a few months with no weight gain at all. The doctor has not been concerned because everything has been measuring fine. At my last appointment two weeks ago I was nearing my pre-pregnancy weight so I will be surprised if I don't jump over it at my appointment today. We shall see. However, if it's a large number I will blame it on the fact that my appointment was after lunch.....it's only logical right?!? In two more weeks we will have another ultrasound to see if the baby has flipped. As of right now I believe she is still hanging out in a breech position and I know there is plenty of time for her to make her move!
Steven goes to the doctor on Thursday and will HOPEFULLY get off of crutches! Fingers crossed!!! At this point it's no so much the crutches I would just like him to get released to start driving.
I do have a funny pregnancy story......our sweet friends that welcomed their bundle of joy on New Years Eve gave us their doppler to borrow for the remainder of my pregnancy. Well I shouldn't say their as she borrowed it from the clinic she currently works for.....the clinic has asked for it back so we will see how long I get to keep it. The first night we got home we thought we would test it out. Our sweet dog, Carson, was laying next to the bed sleeping away. As soon as he heard the doppler sounds he FREAKED out. He took off running around the house like a mad man and barking like crazy. When he ran back into the bedroom he was trying to get on the bed...due to his short legs he sometimes needs some help. When we got him calmed down and on the bed I found her heart beat again. He slowly walked over, placed his head on my belly and put it right next to where her heart was beating. Sweet little guy. He isn't going to know what hit him in the next few months :). I will say the bigger I've gotten the more attached he's gotten. He has never been a snuggler but that all changed about 2 months ago. For the longest time I thought it was my imagination but Steven started commenting and family and friends started commenting on how funny it was. If he isn't busy playing he is at my feet regardless of what I am doing....if I lay down he lays down touching me, if I sit on the couch he lays on top of my feet, etc.
WOW this was a LONG RANDOM post! I will post some new belly pictures soon!!
On the baby front I really can't believe I only have 10 weeks (give or take) of pregnancy left!!! Holy cow where has time gone!!!!! I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon. I am guessing by the way I've been STARVING last week that I will finally jump ahead of my pre-pregnancy weight and get a positive weight gain on my charts! For those that don't know I lost quite a bit of weight during the first trimester due to morning sickness. Then I went a few months with no weight gain at all. The doctor has not been concerned because everything has been measuring fine. At my last appointment two weeks ago I was nearing my pre-pregnancy weight so I will be surprised if I don't jump over it at my appointment today. We shall see. However, if it's a large number I will blame it on the fact that my appointment was after lunch.....it's only logical right?!? In two more weeks we will have another ultrasound to see if the baby has flipped. As of right now I believe she is still hanging out in a breech position and I know there is plenty of time for her to make her move!
Steven goes to the doctor on Thursday and will HOPEFULLY get off of crutches! Fingers crossed!!! At this point it's no so much the crutches I would just like him to get released to start driving.
I do have a funny pregnancy story......our sweet friends that welcomed their bundle of joy on New Years Eve gave us their doppler to borrow for the remainder of my pregnancy. Well I shouldn't say their as she borrowed it from the clinic she currently works for.....the clinic has asked for it back so we will see how long I get to keep it. The first night we got home we thought we would test it out. Our sweet dog, Carson, was laying next to the bed sleeping away. As soon as he heard the doppler sounds he FREAKED out. He took off running around the house like a mad man and barking like crazy. When he ran back into the bedroom he was trying to get on the bed...due to his short legs he sometimes needs some help. When we got him calmed down and on the bed I found her heart beat again. He slowly walked over, placed his head on my belly and put it right next to where her heart was beating. Sweet little guy. He isn't going to know what hit him in the next few months :). I will say the bigger I've gotten the more attached he's gotten. He has never been a snuggler but that all changed about 2 months ago. For the longest time I thought it was my imagination but Steven started commenting and family and friends started commenting on how funny it was. If he isn't busy playing he is at my feet regardless of what I am doing....if I lay down he lays down touching me, if I sit on the couch he lays on top of my feet, etc.
WOW this was a LONG RANDOM post! I will post some new belly pictures soon!!
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